The Charted Financial Analyst certification is one of the prime certifications for investment and finance professionals. The certification, provided by the American CFA Institute is highly regarded as the path to a better career by every investment and finance professional or a student. It is the ticket to a high paying job.

According to the latest count, June 2016, there are 132,000 CFA’s worldwide. Apart from the CFA certification, the CFA institute also offers Certificate in Investment Performance   the Investment Foundations Certificate.

Unlike MBA, which teaches about the general concepts and management, a CFA course stresses more on the finance and investment aspects. Candidates have to pass three levels of exams. These exams cover areas like accounting, economics, sales, marketing, investment, etc. After achieving CFA certification, CFA holders can do various functions in the corporate world like, Private banking, broking, trading, strategizing, portfolio management, research analysis, consultancy, financial analysis, risk management and many more functions related to finance and investment.

In India, various coaching and training institutes offer course programs on both online and offline platforms to help candidates prepare for the examination.In India around sixty thousand people sit for the three levels of the exam. India is also home to third highest number of CFA level one, two, three people.

WHO CAN DO THIS

Like management and higher studies examinations, CFA also requires the candidate to meet some requirements. To become a regular CFA Institute member, the following requirements are to be met by a candidate.

1	A bachelor’sdegree or equivalenteducation/work experience.
2	A passingscore for CFA Level 1 exam
3	48 months of professional work experience in investment banking
4	3 professionalreferences
5	Local CFA SocietyMembership

Level 1

However, if a candidate is writinglevel one exam then she/he has to meetany one of the followingrequirements

1	Final Year of undergraduateprogram
2	Have 4 years of professionalexperience
3	Combination of 1 and 2 equalling 4 years.

A candidate with a bachelor’sdegree can write the Level 1 examination.

Further, Examdetails are mentioned below;

Time Limit	6 hours.
No of questions	240
Type	MCQ
Passingscore	70%
Cost	Rs.73,000 (Approx)
ExamDate	June and December

This levelasksbasic investment and financequestions.

Level 2

Requirements

1	Passgrade in Level 1 exam
2	Bachelor’sdegree

ExamDetails

Time Limit	6 hours.
No of questions	20 itemsets, 6 MCQ’s for each set
Type	ItemSets
Passingscore	Varies
Cost	Rs. 40,000 (Approx)
ExamDate	June and December

Level 3

Requirements:

1	Passinggrade in Level 2 exam
2	Bachelor’sdegree
3	At least 4 years of experience in relatedfield

ExamDetails:

Time Limit	6 hours.
No of questions	10-15
Type	EssayQuestions
Passingscore	Varies
Cost	Rs. 40,000 (Approx)
ExamDate	June

 

From the above mentioned data it is contemplated that any student in his last year undergraduate course can sit for the examination. Eventually though, she/he will have to gain least 4 years of work experience in the relevant field to clear all the levels of the exam. On an average it should take a candidate 4 years starting from his first exam date to acquire his CFA certification.

The CFA Examsyllabuscovers the subjects of investment, assets, portfolio management, equity, economics and corporatefinance.

BENEFITS OF CFA

CFA is a highly regarded course and there are very few CFA’s across the globe. CFA takes 4 years to complete which means it requires 4 years of life, which gives CFA a paramount value. Surveys show that CFA Charterholders are paid more than their counterparts.In India the averagesalary of a CFA certificateholderranges from INR10,00,000.00 to INR 20,00,000.00

A CFA certification by CFA institute, USA is a symbol of excellence. It gives a global recognition. 132,000 CFA’s out of 7.5 billion people. That is 0.00176% of the world. It creates a brand value.

A CFA level 1 holder gets recognition and his career starts moving towards a positive track. So before completing the next levels, his growth starts.

The prime reason for the growth is the knowledge a person gains. It requires some time to prepare which in turn helps the candidate gain huge amount knowledge. Her/his concepts about the investment and financial world a very clear. It makeshim a goldstandardcertifacteholder in the investment and financeworld.

INDUSTRIES THAT HIRE

CFA holders are capable of getting a top-notch job in almost any industry. Special Mention to the banking industry, almost all the banking sector craves for good CFA professionals. Some of the prominent names that hire CFA’s are

1	JP Morgan
2	PWC
3	HSBC
4	E&Y
5	GoldmanSachs
6	SBI
7	WellsFargo
8	MorganStanley
9	CITI Group
10	Bank of America

DURATION AND COST

In India various private institutes prepare candidates for CFA program. The training institutes are available both online and offline. The Coaching cost start from around INR 30,000 and rise up to 60,000. The training is available in different batches because the examination is held in June as well as December.